Full Description
A musical adventure through America as a land of songs, uncovering how American identity and values are found in popular and folk music.
Michael Lasser cuts across a wide swath of history and people, from "This Land Is My Land" to Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon, and shows how songs that help to shape and reflect American attitudes possess, at the very least, an element of patriotism.
Lasser writes about "Yankee Doodle" as the country's first important patriotic song and looks at its recurrence over the next two centuries. He covers protest songs as a form of patriotic expression; songs from African American people, including as slaves and as free people; and songs of women's suffrage. On the flip side, he also critically analyzes racist, ethnic, and anti-immigrant songs. While the book celebrates America's successes, it does not shrink from its flaws and failures. Lasser turns America into a land of songs, taking readers on an exciting ride through the nation, its history, and its people.
Contents
Contents
Introduction: Songs Are the Pulse of a Nation's Heart
Chapter 1: An American Character
Chapter 2: A Yankee Doodle Dandy
Chapter 3: The Faces of Patriotism
Chapter 4: Fight for Love and Liberty
Chapter 5: Attuned to the Needs of the Nation
Chapter 6: Protest as Patriotism: African Americans, Letting the People Go
Chapter 7: The Mingling of Black and White
Chapter 8: African Americans, Acts of Desegregation
Chapter 9: Women and the 19th Amendment
Chapter 10: "Ragging and Nagging in Politics"
Chapter 11: Racist Songs & African Americans
Chapter 12: "I'll Be Down to Get You in a Taxi, Honey"
Chapter 13: Come on and Hear!
Chapter 14: "The Sweetest Taste of Freedom for My Soul"
Chapter 15: "They're All Good American Names"
Chapter 16: "There She Lies, the Great Melting Pot—Listen!"
Chapter 17: His Immigration Rose
Chapter 18: Feasting on the Stereotypes
Chapter 19: More Than Fifteen Million Immigrants
Chapter 20: The Urge to Roam
Chapter 21: Thousands of Miles from Home
Chapter 22: Hard Travelin'
Chapter 23: Wandering and Returning
Chapter 24: Longing for My Homeland
Epilogue
Notes
Index
